Westminster Bank

Chapter 219: Chapter 144: Hamster

A dark, thick liquid flowed from the wound in Miss Triss’s abdomen, seeping onto the ground. It was as black as a bottomless abyss, exuding a chilling, rotten stench.

The surrounding onlookers were stunned. The nobles and merchants who had previously encircled Miss Triss, realizing the situation had gone south, promptly scattered and vanished into the crowd.

"How did you know..." Miss Triss said.

"Your aura gave you away."

Miss Triss said weakly, "Don’t you want to know why I became like this?"

"Not interested," Baron whispered close to Miss Triss’s ear, his voice icy.

The Blood Patterns on his body began to fade, and weakness coiled and writhed through him like a serpent.

’No, I can’t close my eyes. If I close my eyes, I lose.’

Enduring, Baron gripped the Tree Spike and repeated the motion mechanically.

The Demon Hunters and the crowd stared blankly, their faces a mixture of terror and shock. They watched as the Demon Hunter clutched the girl tightly, like a madman, and plunged the long, sharp spike into her corpse.

"No, Triss!"

A woman’s cry came from the crowd. It was a girl with her face veiled in light gauze. A man who looked like a Knight, his face filled with sorrow, pulled her away. Onlookers overheard him muttering something like, "A ship that’s been patched up again and again is no longer the same ship it once was."

’Ah, that’s Remedios...’

Miss Triss heard the girl’s cry, and a strange smile suddenly appeared on her face—one that was a twisted mix of fawning, pleading, sorrow, and finally, rage. She said:

"Don’t trust the girl by your side... I can feel it... she wants you dead more than I ever did..."

Baron’s heart skipped a beat, but before he could ask anything, he suddenly heard the sound of something shattering in his mind.

The last glimmer of light in the young woman’s eyes vanished. Her body went limp in Baron’s arms, like a flower petal beaten down by a heavy rain. freewebnoveℓ.com

At the same time, the ground covered in black burls began to sprout all sorts of lush trees, growing with savage speed. Yalilan’s gaze sharpened, and she ordered a Demon Hunter to hand her a torch.

She immediately threw the torch onto the trees. A great fire erupted, yet it produced not a single wisp of thick smoke, as if the flames themselves were being smothered by an invisible cloth.

It was burning completely, turning to white ash in moments.

Baron could finally hold on no longer. Clutching Triss’s corpse, he fell from his horse.

What awaited him was not the hard ground, but a warm, soft embrace.

Yalilan caught him. She looked at him, her gaze as resolute and sharp as ever.

But then, that resolute sharpness suddenly vanished. Yalilan smiled at him and patted his shoulder. "L, you did well."

Baron gave a bitter smile, his gaze scanning the crowd behind the Viscount.

Carmen... was gone.

...

At the city gate, two men stood side by side: City Lord Lewis and the Knight Order Leader of the Glorious Knight Order, Victor, a man Baron had mentally dubbed "Mr. Honesty."

Thunderbolt leaped down before the two men. He greeted Lewis, then turned to Victor. "Why did you use your [Mercy] to help him?"

Mercy.

The exclusive Authority of a Bronze Tier Faith Knight. It allows the user to take on the damage meant for a comrade through an invisible Light Bond.

Thunderbolt had sensed Victor’s intervention through the disturbance in the air currents.

He knew full well that the power of his claw strike was not something a mere Black Iron could withstand, even if the kid was the champion of the Hunting Competition.

In the face of absolute, overwhelming power, all skills and strategies are nothing but petty tricks.

"Knight Order Leader Thunderbolt, why didn’t you inform me beforehand of your visit to Fude City? I would have certainly arranged an honor guard to welcome you."

Lewis tried to ease the tension, but the ever-honest Victor said, "In the Hunting Competition, the families of the casualties have no right to question the results. It is my duty to ensure the rules are not broken. Only then can the next Hunting Competition be held as scheduled."

"’No right to question?’" Thunderbolt sneered. "Gray was my son! You’re telling me you let my son die just so you could hold another Hunting Competition?!"

"He didn’t die at the hands of a Demon Beast, but in a pointless competition!"

"L is also someone’s son," Victor answered honestly. "Besides, Knight Order Leader Thunderbolt, you have many sons. They are scattered among the various Knight Orders of Amel. Gray was but one of them. They are all your investments in the future."

"As far as I know, you have barely met Gray a handful of times since his birth. The same is true for your other sons."

Rage was plain on Thunderbolt’s face, but Victor continued his blunt assessment, "Since it’s an investment, I think you should be trying to befriend L, not antagonize him. Mr. Stephen of the First Hunter Association has indeed confirmed that L has great potential to reach the Silver Tier."

"He was still my son, no matter what!"

"And what about the others Gray killed in the competition by ’accident’? Weren’t those Demon Hunters someone else’s children? Among them were descendants of Fude City’s high officials and nobles."

Victor said, "But for the sake of ’fairness,’ City Lord Lewis and I suppressed all of that. If I make an exception for you, then my path as a Knight, just as L said, would completely crumble.

Since I have chosen the path of fairness, I must see it through to the very end."

"You!" Thunderbolt’s chest heaved with rage.

Victor said, "You don’t dare to move against me, because you know that you are beneath me in both rank and strength. There is nothing to be gained from fighting me."

Thunderbolt let out a cold snort. "Fine," he said. "Then you can compensate me for my son."